I recently played in a four-person scramble tournament that brought home the advisability of providing senior tees for older gentlemen.
My team was comprised of two men around 60, one over 80, and one female. The handicaps ranged from 9 to 14.
All of the men were assigned to the middle tees; women played the forward tees. When the forward tees were near the middle tees, my drive, understandably, was never useful. However, on those holes where the forward tees were placed well ahead of the middle tees, I had the chance to contribute. This gave me something to look forward to, and helped me feel I was valuable to my team for something besides chipping and putting.
The older gentleman, on the other hand, was frustrated in his attempts to contribute off the tee. Despite having a very good driving day (most of his drives were well-struck and finished in the fairway), he was never able to outdrive the younger men. While he claimed that he had a good day because he was pleased that he hit the ball well, I’m fairly certain it was discouraging that all of those good shots were useless in the competition.
The point I am trying to make is that tournaments should be designed to bring all the participants into the competition. In mixed gender tournaments, there should always be a number of holes where the difference in distance allows the women to contribute. And in tournaments where you have men of advanced years, senior tees should be used and should be located far enough in front of the men’s tees to allow the seniors to have a fair chance to compete.
Be careful not to err in the other direction. If you have any holes on your course, for example, where the senior tees are so far ahead as to change a par 5 into a par 4, or to turn a difficult par 4 into a piece of cake, then you may want to put all the men on the same tee box, moving the seniors to the front and the younger men to the back.
If you take the time to set up your course fairly for all ages and both genders, your tournament will be more fair, more fun, and more successful.
Linda
Copyright © 2009 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
